Tuesday, May 12, 2009

AI Top 3 Performance

Tonight marks the 300th episode of American Idol. I’ve seen all but about 5, which is something I should not be so willing to admit in public.

Randy’s ready to tee-off in a navy and white striped v-neck cardigan. Kara has Karen Filipelli hair and a gray dress with oddly cut sleeves (sort of like flower petals draped over shoulder pads). Paula, who has been markedly more lucid this season, is loopy as hell tonight- grinning and spinning in her chair. She’s wearing a sparkly black strapless dress with a metallic silver skirt. I wonder if Simon wears the same expensive t-shirts over and over, or if he has drawers and drawers full of identical shirts in black, gray and white.

The Last Boys Standing will sing two songs apiece tonight, down from every other year, when they’d have to perform three times. You’d think they could fit 27 minutes of music into an hour-long music competition show, wouldn’t you? I’m going to go all psychic and predict that they won’t even manage 18 minutes of actual singing in the allotted time. [note from the future: did I call it or what?]

Paula sabotaged Danny by choosing Dance Little Sister for him. Danny does not know the song and neither do I (though I do know who Terence Trent D’Arby is)(or was- has he done anything in the last decade?). Danny is in the black version of his usual Danny Outfit: artfully sculpted facial hair, Leisure Suit Jacket, and barn boots. This song was not a good choice for him, and this performance is doing absolutely nothing for me.

Paula and Simon are playing slap and tickle out of camera range, but we’re not allowed to watch.

Kara and Randy choose Apologize for Kris (who sported chipped blue fingernail polish on is hometown visit). Kara says that everyone knows this song, though I don’t recognize it(not that that means anything- I never listen to the radio). Kris is sitting at the piano, wearing a buttery soft dark leather jacket with a vaguely 70’s cut. I like this performance much more than Danny’s. Whoa, Kris’s mama’s black lace bra is peaking over the edge of her low-cut red dress. After he finishes, Kara damns him with faint praise, complaining about the song that she forced him to sing.

There is absolute chaos at the judging table tonight- they’re all talking over each other, and shouting, and being very physical- lots of punching and touching and hands over mouths and such. They need to be sent to their rooms. Or maybe to each other’s.

Adam is wearing neither black nor white- he’s in distressed denim and a good, new haircut. Simon pulled strings and got a special dispensation from Bono for U2’s One for Adam, who gets to sing to assorted Kardashians in the audience. The performance opens with a lovely, unembroidered beginning, and then all Adam breaks loose, and everyone goes batshit crazy.

Ryan informs us that Idol Gives Back has raised $140 million charitable dollars. But it evidently does not rate a show of its own this year. They did, however, send Carrie Underwood, looking alarmingly like Jamie Lynn Spears, to Angola, to pass out mosquito nets. They didn’t bother to tell us how to donate to this very worthy cause- I guess we have to go to the website to find that out.

So, there are three performances left. Think they can squeeze 9 minutes of music into 15 minutes of air time? Yeah, me neither.

Danny has changed into a black dress vest, a white on white striped shirt, and tie. He has chosen to sing You Are So Beautiful. He starts very quietly, sitting on a stool, and I think there might have been a few wobbly notes in that soft opening. But it’s a very pretty performance, and I like it a lot. I think he regained the ground he lost during the first song.

Kris is wearing a black, long-sleeved Henley tee, and is going to sing Kanye West’s Heartless. It’s just him and a guitar and a spare and beautiful arrangement. Wow! Kris just threw down the gauntlet. I think this is his best performance to date. He absolutely proved that he deserved his spot in the Top 3.

Adam is back in black, with a sequined t-shirt under a black leather hoodie (I think the shirt might say Rock, but it’s hard to tell). I might have preferred him to sing something soft and understated, just to confound expectations, but he decided to go with Aerosmith’s Crying. I tell you what, Stephen Tyler might want to watch his back.

And big surprise- the show ran overtime. Actual surprise- Simon isn’t even pretending to be impartial. He all but begged people to vote for Adam.

I’m not voting for anyone (my few votes this season all went to Allison), which is a good thing, because I have no idea who I would vote for. Danny biffed the first song, but more than nailed his second, and has been consistently Danny-ish the whole season (exactly the same, never surprising, almost always very good). Kris underwhelmed the judges on his first song and killed them all with the second (also consistent with his season-long performances: when he is good, he is very very good, the rest of the time, he’s better than ordinary but not amazing). Adam nailed both songs but perhaps oversang and overperformed both as well, which is textbook Adamoid: bulldoze everyone with sheer talent, but do it so often that people expect (and accept) nothing less.

Who’s going into the Top 2? I’m tempted to say that Adam is a lock, but I’m not going that far. It could be any of them, and they all deserve it.

2 comments:

When Kris started to sing "Apologize", I recognized it as a song from SYTYCD--last year? year before? I liked it and Kris did a good job, though not on the false. He definitely sang "Heartless" better than Kanye (who I don't think can sing at all).

I agree about Adam maybe overdoing it and he got a little shouty. He is very talented but I like his softer songs better, like "Mad World". I thought Danny's second song was great and as much as I like Adam, I think I would buy a Danny record first. Kris is okay but a little boring and I don't like the way he mushes some of the words. Maybe it's his crooked mouth! Hey like the crooked legs of the Kentucky Derby winner. Maybe it's an omen!

Clarification : All foot measurements in the instructions are to be measured after the heel is finished. Measure the foot flap and gusset heel socks from the gusset edge, and measure the foot for short-row heel socks from the first full round after completing the heel.
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When you come upon instructions that say knit as for, referring you to a different pattern for the next step (for example, to the 40 stitch flap and gusset heel), knit that portion of your heel as you would for the referred pattern. In other words, knit it in the same manner, using the same short-row technique as in the referenced instructions. Knitting "as for" does not mean that you are to use the same number of stitches (which would be impossible, since only the 40 stitch heel uses forty stitches). Work the first two rows of your listed heel instructions, and then continue in the same manner as the 40 stitch flap and gusset heel (in other words, work one more stitch on each row, before doing the decrease and turn), until you have worked across all of the stitches.

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I'm a writer (6 mysteries, one mainstream novel, 5 knitting books, lots of designs and reviews, paper dolls, blather), wife, mother, and grandmother. I knit, I watch TV obsessively while I knit, I spin, I read, I listen to music, and I talk. A lot.